"TV Hospital:  Talkathon Introduction - March 25, 1994E.V.": In early 1994 I was flown to Berlin, Germany, by Herr Stiletto Studios to help build & run a complex media project whose various components had various names.  One component was a cable TV program that was on the Open Channel a minimum of 15 hours a day, the time otherwise unused.  We set up a studio, the Blaumilchkontrolle (Blue Milk Control - a reference to a novel) & an installation in the Akademie der Kunst (West) as part of a large exhibit called "X94: junge kunst + kultur", an exhibit meant to showcase the work of young artists.  For the 1st 2 weeks after I arrived I worked 100 hours a week building the technical framework for the piece, mainly in conjunction with Axel Jagemann.  After that, the TV Hospital program was transmitted to the cable TV station using ISDN, picture telephone lines — at that point a very primitive & low resolution medium — & then sent out to the audience.  The footage presented here was originally preserved on PAL VHS, copied to another PAL VHS, & then rendered as NTSC VHS.  Despite the resultant poor resolution, it's still higher quality than what the viewing audience saw.  

Our programming was very free form, we were mainly admonished by the cable station to not do anything sexual.  After 3 weeks on the air I decided it would be fun to hold a "Talkathon" where people would be encouraged to come to the installation & compete with each other as continual talkers.  They weren't expected to talk with each other, simply to talk constantly.  The target length of time was 15 hours, the time we were usually on air continuously.  This program is the one in which I publicly proposed the idea.  I spontaneously explained what I had in mind to any callers who called in to discuss this. 

One of the strange things about being a part of this project was that I felt like a minor TV 'celebrity' without ever having much basis for knowing how many people were tuned in.  I don't watch TV & haven't since 1969 or 1970 so for me sitting & watching TV isn't a good thing.  Nonetheless, I realized that more people watched the channel than I might've expected — partially just because we were the weirdest thing on TV: we made little or no concessions to what might ordinarily be expected of 'entertainment'.  Presenting this in 'real time' is important because it was an unedited experience, this wasn't ordinary TV, we weren't trying to hold the audience's attention in any normal way.  

One thing that happened during this was that Richard Millar, a somewhat shy British praktikant (trainee / intern / apprentice) who Stiletto had somewhat 'randomly' enlisted, started fooling around with some props that were at hand & I interpreted this to the TV viewers as being "Home Skiing".  My purpose was to stimulate Richard to have fun hamming it up a bit.  I later explained that "Home Skiing is like Yard Sailing".  One of my favorite parts of Richard's routine is when he recommends that a caller try skiing in bed or in his car.  The gay men seem to go for Richard & the hetero women seem to go for me.  Experienced as a late-night cruising event this has its own entertainment value.  

Two more Talkathon programs will eventually be uploaded to YouTube: 1st, the promotion, & 2nd, the beginning & end of the Talkathon itself.  Despite the tedium of this I find it very endearing as an attempt to 'think outside the box'.  

- Feburary 3, 2021E.V. notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE 

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